North Korea, as usual, threatens South Korea and the US over combined exercise

North Korean People's Army General Staff spokesman issued a statement today threatening to attack South Korea and US forces for a scheduled combined military exercise in March.

The enemies describe [the joint military exercises] as annual exercises and defense, but [the exercises] are pilot operations and nuclear war exercises aimed at a surprise, preemptive attack on our Republic to all intents and purposes.

If the US imperialists and South Korean warmongers launch the joint military exercises for aggression, ignoring our repeated warnings, we will react to them with our powerful military counteraction, and if necessary, mercilessly destroy the bulwark of aggression by mobilizing all the offensive and defensive means including nuclear deterrent.

North Korea routinely claims the annual South Korea-US exercise that mobilizes tens of thousands of US and South Korean troops and equipment amounts to a precursor to an invasion of its soil.

Here are the two versions of the February 25 North Korean statement issued in response to the exercise (one is a KCNA version that was released in English and the other is a translation of the KCBS broadcast that was originally broadcast in Korean):

KPA General Staff Spokesman Blasts Projected U.S.-S. Korea Joint Military Exercises (KCNA, 25 Feb 2010)

The U.S. imperialists and the warmongers of the South Korean puppet army finally announced that they would stage the DPRK-targeted Key Resolve and Foal Eagle joint military exercises from March 8.

In this regard a spokesman for the General Staff of the Korean People's Army released the following statement Thursday: Massively involved in the exercises will be more than 18 000-strong forces including over 10 000 U.S. imperialist aggression troops present in south Korea and ultra-modern military hardware as well as army corps-level, fleet command-level and flying corps-level units of the South Korean puppet army and even civilian forces. The enemies describe the exercises as "annual ones" and "defensive" but they are pilot operations and nuclear war exercises aimed to preempt a surprise attack on the DPRK, to all intents and purposes.

From the outset of the year the warmongers of the South Korean puppet army in collusion with the U.S. imperialists have frantically staged mid-winter tactical exercise, large-scale coordinated ground exercise and other exercises of various codenames, while talking about a "preemptive attack" over self-defensive nuclear deterrent of the DPRK. This is by no means accidental.

This brought to light their true colors as war fanatics keen to bring dark clouds of a nuclear war to hang over the inviolable land, while seeking escalated tensions and confrontation only.

We will not remain a passive onlooker to this grave situation created by the provokers.

If the U.S. imperialists and South Korean warmongers launch the joint military exercises for aggression, ignoring our repeated warnings, we will react to them with our powerful military counteraction, and if necessary, mercilessly destroy the bulwark of aggression by mobilizing all the offensive and defensive means including nuclear deterrent.

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Press statement by a spokesperson for the General Staff of the Korean People's Army [KPA] (Korean Central Broadcasting Station in Korean, 25 Feb 2010)

Currently, a touch-and-go dangerous situation, in which a war may break out any moment, is being created on the Korean peninsula due to brigandish US imperialists and South Korean puppet warmongers' reckless war maneuver.

Ignoring our repeated warnings, the enemies finally announced that they would stage the Key Resolve and Foal Eagle joint military exercises, which are northward aggression war exercises, from 8 March.

Massive forces of some 18,000-strong forces, including over 10,000 troops of the US aggression forces forcibly occupying South Korea, and state-of-the-art arms and equipment are to be intensively committed to the joint military exercises. [Also,] army corps-level, fleet command-level, and flying corps-level units of the South Korean puppets and even civilian forces are to be mobilized.

The enemies describe [the joint military exercises] as annual exercises and defense, but [the exercises] are pilot operations and nuclear war exercises aimed at a surprise, preemptive attack on our Republic to all intents and purposes.

It is by no means coincidental that South Korean puppet warmongers, who colluded with the US imperialists, have been frantically staging training under all kinds of pretexts, including mid-winter tactical training, and large-scale joint ground training, from the beginning of the year, while recklessly saying that they will launch a preemptive attack by picking on our self-defensive nuclear deterrent.

This by itself revealed that the US imperialists and South Korean puppet warmongers are the ones who are war fanatics trying to bring in dark clouds of a nuclear war to our sacred land, while only pursuing aggravation of tension and confrontation.

We will not just keep looking at today's grave situation created by the provokers.

Each heart of our military and people, who hold a deep grudge that has built up for more than half a century due to the aggressors, is strongly seething with soaring hatred and rage against the enemies that are igniting fire to a fuse of war, while giving off the smell of gunpowder, on this land today.

If the US imperialists and South Korean puppet warmongers carry out the aggressive joint military exercises despite our repeated warnings, we will respond to them with our powerful military counteraction [kangnyo'khan kunsajo'k taeu'ng]; and if necessary, we will mercilessly beat to a muddy place the stronghold of aggression [ch'imnyagu'i aso'ngu'l mujabihage chukt'angch'yo'bo'rilgo'sida] by mobilizing all the offensive and defensive means, including nuclear deterrent.

[Dated] 25 February 2010, Chuch'e 99, Pyongyang.